Navigation

Sky USA

This is NOT a USA product, but yet another Chinese clarinet-shaped object.Chinese makers have put ‘USA’ on a number of their instruments, including my soprano sax.

14Aug2014 Many thanks to Jeff Girsch for giving me the opportunity to review this clarinet. I think he picked this up just for the case. In any case, Jeff knew not to spend good money for this el-cheapo clarinet.

I note that this clarinet, now with a soft case is currently for sale new on the Internet for $120.

I note that the clarinet comes with a good-playing plastic mouthpiece.

Serial # none

Barrel: 61.6mm

Bore LH joint top: 14.7 mm

Bore LH joint at bottom: 14.7 mm

Such short barrels are common on Chinese clarinets. This one has been used by a student, and it is still playable. The keys seem quite sturdy. One could not have a thicker crow-foot key. It has the adjustable thumb rest— a model that has caused problems. I see a number of these that come without the all important screw holding it on. This model is made of hard rubber and has the glued-in tone hole inserts. Sometimes I have found those inserts to cause problems.

Intonation results taken when playing loud and not lipping. See how to interpret these results on the Model Comparison Page.

For this test, I pulled 1.7mm at the barrel and 1.5mm at the center tenon.

High register

Android PitchLab

F

-15

E

-10

D

-1

C

-1

B

4

B-flat

-1

A

0

Mid

G

-1

F

-1

E

0

D

10

C

0

B

7

Throat tones

Bb

10+

A

10

G

0

F

-2

E

5

Chalumeau

D

8

C

4

B-flat

0

A

0

G

1

F

-20

E

-6

Intonation summary: This is better than I thought it would be. The results above include that I was only depressing the throat tone A and register key for the Bb part way down. These Chinese clarinets often have a huge cork for under the A key, and in this case part has broken off. This causes the A key to open way too far. The register key opens too far also. The result without adjustment would be A and Bb that would be 20 cents too sharp. If those two keys were fixed properly, there is no reason why the A and Bb could not be played in tune, considering that one could use resonance fingerings and lip down. And this would qualify as intermediate intonation. The Chinese beginning student clarinet that I recommend is the Hutchen.

Key work quality: The A throat tone key is very poorly designed. The huge cork will cause problems. However this is easily fixed. The keys are quite sturdy.

This clarinet is most appropriate for: Beginners, and if properly regulated, this will work for intermediate students.

Condition issues noted: The bridge key was found bent. And the broken cork mentioned above.